Skip to main content
PMC home page
The BMJ logoLink to The BMJ
. 1991 Jul 6;303(6793):22–26. doi: 10.1136/bmj.303.6793.22

Reported social alcohol consumption during pregnancy and infants' development at 18 months.

F Forrest 1, C D Florey 1, D Taylor 1, F McPherson 1, J A Young 1
PMCID: PMC1670277  PMID: 1859950

Abstract

OBJECTIVE--To determine the relation between mothers' self reported drinking habits before, during, and after pregnancy and infants' mental and motor development at 18 months of age. DESIGN--Follow up study of all singleton live births born to primigravidas living in Dundee and booked into antenatal clinics from 1 May 1985 to 30 April 1986. SETTING--District of Dundee. SUBJECTS--846 children aged 18 months, of whom 592 attended for assessment. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Scores on Bayley scales of infant mental and motor development. RESULTS--For full term children, maternal alcohol consumption was not significantly related to any adverse effect on the children's mental or motor development measures at age 18 months. After confounding factors had been controlled for, alcohol consumption before pregnancy and after pregnancy was significantly related to better motor performance and mental performance. CONCLUSION--Pregnant women probably need not abstain from alcohol altogether as no detectable adverse relation was found between the child's mental and physical development and the mother's weekly consumption at levels in excess of 100g absolute alcohol. However, to allow for a margin of safety and taking into account the findings of an earlier phase of this study on the immediate effects on the newborn, it is recommended that pregnant women should drink no more than eight units of alcohol a week, the equivalent of about one drink a day.

Full text

PDF
22

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Barr H. M., Streissguth A. P., Martin D. C., Herman C. S. Infant size at 8 months of age: relationship to maternal use of alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine during pregnancy. Pediatrics. 1984 Sep;74(3):336–341. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Coles C. D., Smith I. E., Falek A. Prenatal alcohol exposure and infant behavior: immediate effects and implications for later development. Adv Alcohol Subst Abuse. 1987 Summer;6(4):87–104. doi: 10.1300/J251v06n04_07. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Fried P. A., Watkinson B. 12- and 24-month neurobehavioural follow-up of children prenatally exposed to marihuana, cigarettes and alcohol. Neurotoxicol Teratol. 1988 Jul-Aug;10(4):305–313. doi: 10.1016/0892-0362(88)90032-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Grisso J. A., Roman E., Inskip H., Beral V., Donovan J. Alcohol consumption and outcome of pregnancy. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1984 Sep;38(3):232–235. doi: 10.1136/jech.38.3.232. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Gusella J. L., Fried P. A. Effects of maternal social drinking and smoking on offspring at 13 months. Neurobehav Toxicol Teratol. 1984 Jan-Feb;6(1):13–17. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Jones K. L., Smith D. W. Recognition of the fetal alcohol syndrome in early infancy. Lancet. 1973 Nov 3;302(7836):999–1001. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(73)91092-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Kaminski M., Franc M., Lebouvier M., du Mazaubrun C., Rumeau-Rouquette C. Moderate alcohol use and pregnancy outcome. Neurobehav Toxicol Teratol. 1981 Summer;3(2):173–181. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Kuzma J. W., Sokol R. J. Maternal drinking behavior and decreased intrauterine growth. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 1982 Summer;6(3):396–402. doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.1982.tb04998.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Landesman-Dwyer S., Ragozin A. S., Little R. E. Behavioral correlates of prenatal alcohol exposure: a four-year follow-up study. Neurobehav Toxicol Teratol. 1981 Summer;3(2):187–193. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Larsson G., Bohlin A. B., Tunell R. Prospective study of children exposed to variable amounts of alcohol in utero. Arch Dis Child. 1985 Apr;60(4):316–321. doi: 10.1136/adc.60.4.316. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Little R. E., Anderson K. W., Ervin C. H., Worthington-Roberts B., Clarren S. K. Maternal alcohol use during breast-feeding and infant mental and motor development at one year. N Engl J Med. 1989 Aug 17;321(7):425–430. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198908173210703. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Mau G. Moderate alcohol consumption during pregnancy and child development. Eur J Pediatr. 1980 May;133(3):233–237. doi: 10.1007/BF00496082. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. O'Connor M. J., Brill N. J., Sigman M. Alcohol use in primiparous women older than 30 years of age: relation to infant development. Pediatrics. 1986 Sep;78(3):444–450. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Spohr H. L., Steinhausen H. C. Clinical, psychopathological and developmental aspects in children with the fetal alcohol syndrome: a four-year follow-up study. Ciba Found Symp. 1984;105:197–217. doi: 10.1002/9780470720868.ch12. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Streissguth A. P., Barr H. M., Martin D. C., Herman C. S. Effects of maternal alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine use during pregnancy on infant mental and motor development at eight months. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 1980 Apr;4(2):152–164. doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.1980.tb05630.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Streissguth A. P., Barr H. M., Martin D. C. Maternal alcohol use and neonatal habituation assessed with the Brazelton scale. Child Dev. 1983 Oct;54(5):1109–1118. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Streissguth A. P., Barr H. M., Sampson P. D., Parrish-Johnson J. C., Kirchner G. L., Martin D. C. Attention, distraction and reaction time at age 7 years and prenatal alcohol exposure. Neurobehav Toxicol Teratol. 1986 Nov-Dec;8(6):717–725. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Streissguth A. P., Clarren S. K., Jones K. L. Natural history of the fetal alcohol syndrome: a 10-year follow-up of eleven patients. Lancet. 1985 Jul 13;2(8446):85–91. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(85)90189-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Sulaiman N. D., Florey C. D., Taylor D. J., Ogston S. A. Alcohol consumption in Dundee primigravidas and its effects on outcome of pregnancy. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1988 May 28;296(6635):1500–1503. doi: 10.1136/bmj.296.6635.1500. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from BMJ : British Medical Journal are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES